I agree---> 
Posted on 11/23/2003 2:09:35 AM PST by FairOpinion
RIYADH (Reuters) - A senior al Qaeda militant orchestrated the bombing of a residential compound in Saudi Arabia earlier this month by telephone from Iran, a Saudi newspaper says.
Okaz newspaper, quoting informed sources on Sunday, said the militant network's security chief Saif al-Adel gave orders for the attack in the capital Riyadh by satellite phone.
Neither Saudi nor Iranian officials were immediately available to comment on the Okaz report.
"The sources said Saif al-Adel led the bombing operation of the Muhaya residential compound, using a Thuraya phone to give instructions to the terrorists in the kingdom who carried out the criminal operation," the Arabic-language daily said.
"The sources said that the terrorist Saif al-Adel is in Iran," it added.
At least 18 people were killed in the Muhaya bombing two weeks ago, blamed on Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. The attack followed triple suicide bombings in Riyadh in May which killed 35 people.
The newspaper said Saif al-Adel fled to Iran with 500 al Qaeda members during the intensive U.S. bombing of Afghanistan in late 2001. It said they were detained by Iranian troops.
Some al Qaeda militants in northern Iran were in touch with figures outside including bin Laden, it added.
Asked on Sunday about U.S. media reports that bin Laden and top al Qaeda figures may be in Iran, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman told reporters in Tehran:
"These are rumours...We are serious about confronting al Qaeda. We have always been and will continue to be so."
Iran has said it arrested a number of al Qaeda members, including some senior figures, but has declined to name them and says it will not hand them over to U.S. officials for questioning.
Last month, Tehran said it had given the names of extradited al Qaeda suspects to the U.N. Security Council but declined to give any details of detainees remaining in the country.
Western intelligence sources and media reports suggest Iran may be holding Saif al-Adel.
Washington has in the past accused Iran of sheltering al Qaeda and said members of the militant network in Iran may have planned the May bombings in Riyadh. Iran denied the charges.
You all know what that this means??
We were able to listen in on the leadership of AQ....AGAIN.....and this story will cause them to not use phones........AGAIN!
Dang media.
The leak of this info could set us back months if not years.
A bit of additional info from ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp.) listing a wired service (?) "AEDT":
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s995457.htm
[...Saif al-]Adl is among a group of 500 suspected members of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terror network which allegedly entered Iran through the Baluchistan region during the US bombing campaign in Afghanistan, the daily added.The 500 are being detained and guarded by Iran's army while some Al Qaeda leaders, residing in the Namak area, north of Tehran, are in touch with bin Laden as well as Al Qaeda members across the world, it said.
Adl appears to be the same person who, according to the Washington Post in May, was identified by US officials as Saif al-Adel and is believed to be an Egyptian Al Qaeda leader hiding in Iran.Okaz called the man al-Masri, which is Arabic for Egyptian.
Adl helped organise the triple bombings in Riyadh on May 12 that killed 38 people, according to the US officials.
He is also thought to have become the network's top military officer after Muhammad Atef was killed in Afghanistan in 2001, and he may now be the third most senior member of the network, the Post said.
And the stupid media can't understand why we get ticked off at them
A (full) invasion of Iran is unworkable and unlikely. (Although the occassional, or even not so occassional, cross-border raid, say to destroy military camps in retaliation for assistance to insurgents in Iraq, sounds like a fine idea.)
Subversion is the correct route with Iran. Correction. Subversion implies covert undermining. We should be OVERTLY supporting the pro-democracy dissidents within Iran, with millions of dollars (for strike-pay, lawyers, or actually however they want to use it with no strings), communications equipment, printing presses, radio transmitters, satelite links, computers, literature, intelligence info on the Iranian government, etc, etc, etc.
Why we are not pouring everything we can into such an effort -- while Iran is actively attempting to destablize Iraq, and kill our soldiers and cooperating Iraqis -- is unfathomable.
The claims (of freedom hating leftists and tyranny tolerant Foggy Bottom pinstripers) that such overt support will taint the opposition movements is b.s. It will energize them. Recall that the reason we kept the same kind of operations highly secret in Poland was to avoid creating a pretext for a Soviet invasion. Such considerations do not apply here. Let's get with it Dubya! We need to set these f-ing mullahs back on their heels.
"The sources said Saif al-Adel led the bombing operation of the Muhaya residential compound, using a Thuraya phone to give instructions to the terrorists in the kingdom who carried out the criminal operation," the Arabic-language daily said. You all know what that this means?? We were able to listen in on the leadership of AQ....AGAIN.....and this story will cause them to not use phones........AGAIN! Dang media.
I agree--->
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